28 Sep 2008

Wednesday 24th September saw An Evening with Peter Hook at the intimate, 70 capacity Orlando’s in Chorlton. The event was essentially a Q&A that began tentatively but picked up pace after the interval. Aside from tales of debauchery Hooky revealed New Order reforming was "as likely as the Haçienda re-opening", although 2009 will see left over tracks from the WFTSC sessions released as an album - including remixes of the Control soundtrack.

Other points of note include:

The band had no input into 1 Top Class Manager. Rob Gretton was the best manager he ever had, having sacked around 12 to date, adding that bands are ten-a-penny but a good manager is hard to come by.

DJ'ing gave Hooky back his love of music after initially taking it up as "the best way to get pissed for free".

Hooky and Mani have joked about setting up Haçienda Care Homes for elderly ex-clubbers... Tea and disco-biscuits anyone?

Many thanks to Rob and Jo Brady for becoming Cerysmatic deputies for the evening.

'Never go back to a lit firework,' Graham Massey reminds us in these days of faked special effects and dubious digital spectacle. From his days with Biting Tongues he still maintains the concept of live performance as an information explosion, with the group functioning as an experimental audiovisual laboratory at the centre of it. 'It's about what happens when you don't stop,' he explains. 'Biting Tongues was a media whirlwind, shredding sound before digital effects came in, cutting up texts and chants before rapping. We rewrote the rulebook but forgot to tell anyone. That's why Biting Tongues is still the band we never quite understood but could never quite leave alone.'

What began with Biting Tongues, however, has continued with Massey's other projects: from 808 State to The Sisters of Transistors, from Tool Shed to Massonix. Presented together over four days between October 1 to 4 at the Shunt Vault in London, alongside a whole range of friends, collaborators and kindred spirits, are various stages of a live tradition of deeply committed, full-force performances, shards and trajectories from the original information explosion. This is a unique opportunity to witness moments of secret transmission, a live line of descent that continues to this day. Supported by DJ sets, installations, lectures, screenings and seminars, Mondo Mancunia is about to rewrite the rulebook yet again – 'only this time we're telling everyone,' Massey adds, 'so there's no excuse if you miss it.'

19 Sep 2008

Once upon a time seasoned Manchester watchers could guess when the bigwigs were in town as the screaming TAG vans would suddenly be replaced by pairs of shiny, happy, multiracial policemen and women having fun on the beat, signifying that some royalty or IOC or other were enjoying the local council's largesse.

Nowadays it's a bit more obvious, what with the with cordons, tank-traps, helicopters, security seals, road-closures and snipers hiding behind.....Peter Saville branding!

As a swathe of central Manchester is in lockdown for the annual conference of the right-wing neocon New Labour Party, once again selective parts of the city centre are festooned with full on security trimmings and a new incarnation of that Manchester M logo.

First aired in 2006 as part of Saville's Original, Modern treatment for the branding of the city, the new series consists of a number of lamppost banners and a 'The City of Manchester welcomes the Labour Party Conference 2008' poster, on view, probably, until the apparatchiks and party faithful leave town early next week.

15 Sep 2008

It's (finally) official: The New Order 'deluxe' 2-disc "Collector's Edition" 'remastered' reissues of Movement, Power Corruption & Lies, Low-Life, Brotherhood, and Technique arrive September 29 in the U.K. and November 11 in the U.S. "The second disc of each reissue will contain rare and previously unreleased B-sides, remixes, and extended and alternate versions of tracks." While we question the definition of "unreleased" (unreleased on CD perhaps), and await with a jaundiced eye those "alternate"-described versions of 'Ceremony' and 'Temptation' (see tracklists below), this will be the first CD release for many (if not most of the) full unedited 12" versions (including the much-reviled [by Peter Saville & some persons other than me] John Robie-mixed 12" of 'Sub-Culture'.)

Plus, Section 25 play a special benefit gig for their friend Fes Parker who was recently struck down with cancer. The gig is this Friday 12 September 2008 at the West Coast Rock Café in Blackpool from 8pm. All proceeds go to Mr Parker and other bands are to be confirmed in the line-up.

Finally, the band return to the West Coast Rock Café on 20 December 2008 for a pre-Christmas gig.

Kings Place is the first new concert venue in London since the Barbican. It opens on 1 October and two of Factory Classical's most celebrated alumni are helping to launch proceedings.

John Metcalfe curates Beyond The Loop featuring The Duke Quartet, Max Richter and The John Metcalfe Band. There is a further performance by The Duke Quartet later in the year. Plus, Graham Fitkin (FACT 346 Flak) presents The Multiplier Series of concerts focusing on single instrumental timbres.

Sadly 'Factory Music' on 9 December has nothing whatsoever to do with Factory Records.

Metcalfe: Beyond The LoopWednesday 1 OctoberHall TwoCurated by John Metcalfe

"An extremely rare chance to hear three of the UK's most distinctive and absorbing ensembles and composers in one space. World renowned for their passionate dynamism, the Duke Quartet perform Steve Reich's iconic Different Trains, followed by pianist-composer Max Richter and ensemble playing his hugely powerful and haunting music from the acclaimed CDs Songs from Before and The Blue Notebooks, both on Brighton's seminal label Fat Cat. John Metcalfe's band, featuring outstanding musicians from the electronic scene, produce searing strings and beats coupled with electric intimacy and lush cinematica. Not to be missed."

Unfortunately, Beyond The Loop is already sold out but check with the venue for returns.

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The Multiplier SeriesCurated by Graham FitkinTue 28 October and Tue 16 December 2008Hall Two8.00pmTicket prices from 11.50 GBP

"Composer Graham Fitkin has put together a series of concerts focusing on single instrumental timbres, monochromatic if you like, eschewing necessary orchestration. Whether it's a string quartet, four pianos, two basalt stones or three accordionists, each evening looks at how multiples of similar instruments are a potent musical force."

"The Duke Quartet is joined by guitarist Tom Kerstens in a concert of bowed and plucked string music. Britten's last quartet is followed by the Quintet by Cuban composer Leo Brouwer. Schubert would have often heard his lieder played on guitar by friends in the private house concerts in Vienna: his famous 'Death and the Maiden' Quartet based on the lied of that name, completes the recital."

8 Sep 2008

As first reported on the 99 Records list, legendary New York No-Wavers ESG have reformed almost exactly a year after playing their last gig (in Chicago) and splitting up. More details at myspace.com/esgtheband.

To mark the occasion they play a gig at Andrew W.K.'s new NYC venue Santos Party House on Saturday 13 September 2008.

7 Sep 2008

Not according to Fractured Music, "an imprint which specialises in one-off editions and artists' projects", whose debut release Recovery features twenty of the most left-field electronic musicians performing their favourite guilty secrets: "cover versions, tributes and appropriations of classic hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s".

The hour long documentary, believed to have been produced by the makers of lasts year's Factory: Manchester From Joy Division To Happy Mondays - itself available for viewing on iPlayer until 12:19am on Saturday 13th September 2008 - features "A compilation of some of the great Manchester bands in BBC studio performance from the 1960s till the present, including Freddie and the Dreamers, The Hollies, 10CC, the Buzzcocks, The Fall, Joy Division, James, M-People, Oasis and many more."

True to recent BBC form the compilation is made up of excerpts (rather than full performances), leans toward the sensational (ooh! Michael Clarke's bum!), is clumsily edited and heavily overtyped with subtitles (Curtis' 'dead fly dance' and New Order's 'nazi connotations' anyone?) that manage to miss more intra-Manchester connections than they actually highlight.

The entire Voodoo Ray video, which was shot almost exclusively in the Haçienda by the - at that time - Haçienda lighting crew Swivel.

Further smug points to note:

Mancunian artists certainly like to keep an eye on the camera!Shaun Ryder's band were, in fact, PLURAL.The Bee Gees are neither sufficiently pop nor Mancunian to have been included.The Charlatans are not actually from Manchester.Unfortunately Freddie and the Dreamers were.

NB Apologies for the original posting that erroneously directed non-UK residents to the iPlayer service. According to the men in suits: "BBC iPlayer television programmes are only available to users to download or stream (Click to Play) in the UK. However, BBC Worldwide is working on an international version, which we will make available as soon as possible."

5 Sep 2008

It condenses twenty-odd notebooks into one volume, and also contains posters, letters, invoices and studio notes, all dating from August 1978 to late 1980. It is a full-colour, 220-page softback, with a foreword by Jon Savage. The initial run will be strictly limited to 1500 copies. Design is by John Coulthart with Lesley Gilbert and Abigail Ward.

The book is expected to be released "on or around" 14 October 2008 and will be available to buy through 1topclassmanager.co.uk priced at 20.00 GBP (+ P&P) or over the counter at the Vinyl Exchange record shop in Manchester.

4 Sep 2008

Caroline True Records has just re-released the Punk-Funk / Leftfield classic 'Faith' by Manicured Noise as 'Faith 08' in a limited edition of 500 copies 7" single and digital download (via iTunes and other digital stores).

Hot on the heels of the Ruby Lounge gig announced yesterday, comes another new date for The Durutti Column, this time at The Barbican in London on 6 November 2008 as part of the Autumn Contemporary Events 08 season.

From Barbican.org: "Rodrigo Leão, co-founder of Madredeus, was hailed by Pedro Almodóvar as 'one of the most inspired composers in the world'. There is a cinematic scale to his work which has attracted collaborators from Ryuichi Sakamoto to Beth Gibbons, and which comes out in his new work O Mundo, in which he and his band draw together much of his greatest music as part of an imagined soundtrack.

Rodrigo Leão's special guests will be The Durutti Column, Vini Reilly's legendary Manchester band playing a very rare London show, linked to the forthcoming 30 Years of Factory Records boxed set."

3 Sep 2008

The Durutti Column make their long-awaited live comeback with a special intimate show as part of In The City. It's on 7 October 2008 at The Ruby Lounge and promises to be a terrific show. Support comes from The Chemists (with more tbc & DJs till late).

In the grey days of late 1970s post-punk Manchester, youth culture was a serious affair: every musical performance was measured mostly by the conviction of its delivery. The term 'New Wave' opened up free vistas where acquired skills could once again be exercised after punk's monochrome blur. It could be applied to anything from a James 'Blood' Ulmer record to the latest Throbbing Gristle release, Magazine to Swell Maps. Move outside that terrain into Sun Ra, Parliament, Frank Sinatra and Martin Denny, and your options were suddenly without limit...

Then came Tony Wilson's Factory Club (at the Russell Club in Hulme) offering an open invitation to experiment that was taken up when Ken Hollings, Howard Walmsley, Eddie Sherwood and a few others decided to make some noise to accompany their 16mm silent epic Biting Tongues. A further performance followed a few weeks later, when Colin Seddon and Graham Massey disbanded their Post Natals project and joined up. The film itself, a flashing series of negative images, became a memory; the name remained.